Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CEO Sells $4,973,400.00 in Stock

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Laura Alber also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, January 21st, Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WSM traded down $1.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $156.36. The stock had a trading volume of 95,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,976,621. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $193.04 and a 200-day moving average of $173.97. The firm has a market cap of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

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Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WSM shares. Barclays upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand.